A death bed promise
by pipster61
Summary: After Itachi's death sasuke seeks out saskura, she is going to pay for her mistake.happy reading hope you like please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**FORWORD: This is the sequel to unexplained attraction**

**Chapter 1 **

Rolling over quietly trying not to wake the woman lying next to him, he sat on the edge of the bed. It wasn't that sasuke cared about whether he woke her or not, he just didn't want to have to talk to her. Grabbing his pants and pulling them on, he silently walked to the bathroom. Shutting the door behind him he turned on the light and stood before the sink. Leaning over her turned on the cold water to splash his face and wake him up a bit. Running a hand trough his thick dark hair he stood up and looked at the reflection in the mirror, disgust meeting him as he saw the reflection of his own eyes.

It had been two months since he had found itachi and sakura together. Two months since Karin had thrown that kunai. Two months since he'd started sleeping with her.

He didn't particularly like Karin, in fact he had wanted to hate and blame her for itachi's death for taking it away from him. But he had seen the direction that kunai had been headed, she had aimed for sakura. None of them would have guessed that itachi would move to save her like that, and why? What for? The situation between the two of them had been clear, he had seen sakura's feelings written all over her face, the guilt she felt for betraying him. But itachi! Sasuke thought that he knew his brother, that he knew he was a heartless killer, who didn't care about anything other than gaining power. But why had he given his life for sakura? Had she meant that much to him?

Angry he removed his pants and stepped under the shower, turning it on he let the cool water rush over him cooling him down. Reaching for the soap he began scrubbing away the stench of Karin from his body. Karin! That had been interesting turn of events to say the least.

He'd always rejected Karin, hating her for the way she always threw herself at him. Never concentrating on missions, she was more concerned with trying to catch his eye than paying attention to the task at hand. It had really aggravated him, pissed him off. But after they had returned home he had been so filled with rage that he'd grabbed Karin and dragged her to her room. He remembered how scared she'd been thinking that he was going to punish her for killing itachi, but when she realised what was happening she had been more than happy to oblige.

He had wanted to hurt sakura the way she had hurt him, to lash out at her. But she was gone and Karin was there and she was willing. He had thought that by sleeping with her he would somehow feel better, that knowing that this would hurt sakura if she knew would make him feel some sense of revenge. But it didn't! All it did was make him feel disgusted with himself, and what for? It wasn't like sakura knew that he was sleeping with Karin, it served no purpose!

Turning off the tap he stepped out and began drying himself off.

Knock! Knock!

"Sasuke do you want me to join you" came Karin's whiny voice from the other side of the door.

"NO!" he said quickly pulling his pants back on

"Oh come on! You know you want me to. That's why your here in the first place isn't it?"

"Go away Karin!" he said his voice deadly

"Why should I leave? This is my room remember?"

"Well if you don't leave, this room won't belong to anyone! Understand?" he threatened letting all his hate for her fill his voice

"You're so nasty to me" he heard her say as she as she walked away from the door.

Listening, he waited till she was gone before leaving the bathroom. Walking over to the bed he picked up his shirt and tied it around himself. This had to stop! For two months he had been hoping that this would be enough, but it wasn't. He hated sakura for everything that she had done to him, for betraying him with itachi. She had taken away his purpose in life. All his rage and need for vengeance was still there, his hatred for itachi but he couldn't do anything about it. His chance for revenge had been unfairly taken away, and what was worse was he was now questioning the character of his brother; it had always been so easy to hate itachi knowing that he was a monster. But his actions towards sakura had shown something else, something that he didn't understand.

For two months he had dwelled on this and no matter which way he looked at it, it always came back to sakura! It was her fault! Walking out the door he shut it behind him and headed outside. There was only one thing left to do; he had to go back to the leaf village! He was going to deal with sakura one way or the other!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Angrily stomping down the stairs sakura left the Hokages room. It had been just over two months now and she still wasn't allowed to participate in missions. When she'd returned from the incident with itachi the Hokage had placed her on probation, leaving the leaf village the way she had had been a serious crime and she had been suspended from all her duties as a ninja for three months, with a review scheduled at two. having gone to the review board this morning she had hoped that she would be released from her probation and able to go back to completing missions, but the committee had thought it wise for her to serve the full three months of probation, thus ensuring that she learnt her lesson.

"Uh!" she sighed frustrated

She knew that the Hokage was right in her actions for punishment but still, that didn't stop her from going insane from lack of doing anything. For the last two months she had thought of nothing else than the promise that she had made to itachi. From the moment she woke up in the morning, to the time she fell asleep from the exhaustion of training, she did nothing other than think about it. But she had since to come up with a plan of action, made all the more difficult by her inability to leave the damn village!

"Damn you itachi!" she cursed him, not for the first time since his death.

She knew it was wrong to take her frustration out on a dead man, but the task he had left her with, was proving to be impossible. For three years they had looked for sasuke and for three years nothing! Not a trace. Seeing him two months ago had been a pure accident, in fact it was more likely the he had found them than that they had somehow stumbled across him. Maybe he would come looking for her and make her job a little easier she thought, 'humph' she seriously doubted it. If anything he would probably go out of his way to avoid her, if he was looking for her, it would only be for one reason. She had seen the hurt and betrayal written all over his face when he'd realise that she was with itachi. If he was looking for her than it would most certainly be to kill her.

This added another speed bump to her problem. If she somehow managed to get out of the village, and away from her team, and actually find sasuke; he was more likely to kill her first, than ask questions later. She wouldn't even have enough time to warn him about itachi's message to her, and even if she did get to somehow spit the message out it wasn't like sasuke was going to believe anything that she said, especially if it came from itachi.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs she turned to go round the corner, heading for home when she almost ran straight into naruto.

"Oh hi sakura, so what did that old bag say? Are you allowed to go back to doing missions?" he asked eagerly

Naruto! He had been so good to her since she had returned home. He clearly didn't understand anything that had happened while she had been away, but when she had refused to talk about it he had never pushed her for information. In fact he'd just smiled and said "so you saw sasuke huh" when she'd just nodded he had grabbed her shoulder and said "it's ok sakura, I made you a promise three years ago and if it is the last thing I do I will make sasuke see reason and return to the village." she had almost cried at his kindness, she really didn't deserve to have naruto as a friend.

Looking at him standing in front of her now she couldn't help but smile "they said no, that I will need to finish my full three months of probation. But it's ok naruto it is the right decision."

"What! Are you telling me that that stinking old grandma said no, is she insane? What is wrong with her? Don't worry sakura I'll go and have a talk to her and sort it out." He said as he ran passed her and up the stairs towards to hokages room.

"Naruto wait!" but it was too late he was already gone.

'Oh naruto' she thought to herself 'please don't ever change' smiling she headed home.

Later that night lying in bed, exhausted from the afternoons training, she thought about itachi. After returning home to the leaf village she had expected to feel guilt at being the cause of his death, but she didn't. Although that didn't mean that she still wasn't upset about it all, even now almost two and a half months later she was still dreaming about it, she would wake up in the middle of the night crying, wishing that there had been something that she could have done to save him, missing him.

Closing her eyes she focused on going to sleep, there was no point in dwelling on the past, itachi had made her promised to save sasuke, and tomorrow was going to be the day that she figured out how.

Waking up in the middle of the night sakura tried to figure out what was going on. Something was wrong! Keeping her eyes closed she tried to figure out what is was. Was her alarm going off? No, she couldn't hear it. Had someone knocked on the door? Listening she didn't sense anyone outside. What had woke her up then? Trying to roll over and sit up she suddenly realised what was wrong, she couldn't move! Something was pinning her to the bed. Reaching over she tried to flick the bedside lamp on when a cold hand grabbed her wrist stopping her.

Frightened now she willed herself to open her eyes, this was all just a dream she told herself, it had to be. Her lashes fluttering open she waited as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. It was only then as she began to focus on her surroundings that she realised the full implications of what was going on. Looking up she was met with the fiercest set of eyes she had ever known.

Leaning over her, pinning her to the bed with a kunai knife poised at her throat was sasuke!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

He watched as her eyes began to flutter open, and realisation dawned upon her, those beautiful emerald eyes that he knew so well, shrouded by the darkness of the night. He noticed the moment her gaze turned from drowsy and heavy-eyed to startled and panicky, and increased the pressure of the kunai.

It had been no problem for sasuke to enter the leaf village, with his knowledge of the area and terrain he had by-passed the guards and sentries as if they were nothing. Arriving late in the afternoon it had been even easier to find sakura. Cloaking himself in the shadows he had passed by the training grounds and was surprised to find her there training hard. At first it had been a struggle not to rush out and attack her right then and there, but he had managed to gain control over his emotions and decided that attacking her out in the open was probably not the smartest idea; after all he, wanted to be able to leave to village after he had dealt with sakura. So instead he had decided to stay hidden and observe her and see just how much she had improved, he had been surprised by just how more enhanced all her skills were, and to see that her strength had increased immeasurably, it would seem that the rumours of her becoming tsunade's student were true.

He had watched her train until after dark, her exhaustion visible in the way that she stumbled home. Following her he had waited outside of her house until her was sure that she would be asleep, and then entered. Killing her while she slept was not very honourable, it was the job of an assassin, but it was the least likely option to draw attention to him, the last thing he needed was to run onto someone and have to fight his way out of the village. This had been his reasoning behind leaving his team back at their base, the less people, the less attention he would draw and the more chance of carrying this out. However if he was caught, it would not be an easy feat to escape, especially if he had to fight naruto. No this needed to be done quickly and quietly; he would be long gone before anyone even noticed that sakura was dead.

His attention returning to the job at hand, he looked into the frightened eyes of his captive.

"Hello again, sakura." He spoke, his husky voice reverberating throughout her entire body.

She could feel his immense hatred of her in every syllable that he mouthed. Her mind raced through a million things to say, to apologise, but her voice fail her and she just lay there looking up at the man that she had spent her whole life pining after. She knew that he had come here to kill her, that it was the least she deserved, his betrayal and hurt flickering across his face, before being replaced by the cold dark mask of hate.

Looking up into those eyes sakura suddenly felt the beginning flames of anger burning in the pit of her stomach. What gave him the right to just come in here blame her for all of his pain? Didn't he realise that that was exactly what he had done to her three years ago. The betrayal and hurt that she had felt at that moment when he had walked away from her had been almost unbearable. To know that he had chosen to follow his ambitions over her, he had broken her heart! She had been so desperate to get him back that she had begged naruto to find him, not caring about his safety; she had forced him to risk his life, as well as those of choji, neji, kiba, lee, and shikamaru. Her desperation forcing naruto to make a promise that he had almost died trying to keep. She had been so selfish not caring once for her comrade's safety. Enough was enough, all of the hurt and betrayal that she had kept hidden inside of her finally rose to the surface, fanning the flames of anger. Sasuke had no right to stand there and act all righteous and hard done by. She was not going to let him kill her!

Sakura pushed against the invisible barrier that was pinning her to the bed, she felt the kunai dig deeper into her neck piercing the skin, but she didn't care. Utilising all of her strength, she focused her chakra trying to find a weakness in the barrier holding her. She searched desperately, her increased anger adding to her strength as she fought until finally...got it!

Sasuke watched unbelieving as he witnessed sakura's transformation, one moment she was the frightened useless girl he had always known, the next she was using so much force again his genjutzu barrier that if he didn't step away from it soon he would risk being caught by her charkra. Quickly releasing the genjutzu he dodged a swinging blow as sakura finally broke through. Jumping back a few feet he stood readying his kunai, that punch had not been normal if she'd managed to make contact, she probably would have blown his head clean off his shoulders. He watched as she sat on the edge of the bed catching her breath, she had adjusted to the darkness now and the element of surprise was gone, if he still wished to go through with his plan then it would have to come down to a fight one on one, but that would be noisy and draw attention which he didn't want. He could always use his sharingan to subdue her than kill her, but could he do that to sakura? It wasn't his style to kill an opponent that was unable to defend themselves, he much preferred to battle all out. It had been hard enough to sneak in here tonight while she was unsuspecting, and even then he had hesitated.

Never taking her eyes off sasuke sakura thought about what she was going to do; her anger was starting to wear off now that she was free and could move. The full implication of the situation hitting her hard, sasuke was here right in front of her, he was going to kill her, should she call for help? No it would be pointless he was too fast. There was nothing she could do but fight.

"Sasuke I'm... sorry" she whispered fighting control of her body, a part of her wanted to rush over and beg for his forgiveness and tell him that everything that she had done was a mistake, but she couldn't. No matter how much she wanted to she didn't regret what had happened with itachi and she would not apologise for it but she was sorry that she had hurt sasuke so much. "I'm so sorry that I hurt you so much"

"Pfft whatever!" he replied nonchalantly

Taking a step towards her he could see that all her anger was dissolved and she was now just filled with guilt. She sat there so pathetic and helpless, now was his chance.

"I don't care about whatever happened between you and my brother you are now nothing to me, you mean nothing, the only reason I came here was because it was you that took away my purpose, if it hadn't been for you then I would have been able to avenge my clan. But instead itachi died trying to save you. It is all your fault sakura!" he ranted, all his resentment and fury that had built up over the last few weeks finally spilling over.

Moving so swiftly that she didn't even see his movements he was suddenly atop her pinning her with his body to the bed, her arms held in a steel embrace locked by one of his hands above her head. The other readying the kunai for the finally blow. Looking down he could see how frightened she was, her lips were parched and dry, her breasts heaving rapidly in time with the racing of her heart, and those emerald eyes open as wide as possible in fear. It was then that he realised just how much sakura had changed, he hadn't noticed the lovely curves that she had grown in his absence until now that they were pushed against him. Although she wore loose clothing he could still see the body underneath begging for his attention, from her rounded hips and smooth toned thighs to the curvy mounds on her chest. Suddenly his mind was taken over by a need to feel just how much she had changed, to feel his rough hands running over her soft creamy skin.

What was he thinking! Sakura was the enemy!

Pulling himself together he tried to focus on delivering the final blow, never in his whole entire life had he ever hesitated like this, was he losing his touch? His killer instinct? Or was this something else?

Sasuke had moved so fast that sakura hadn't even known he was on top of her until the only thing she could see was a fierce pair of eyes bearing down upon her. Slamming her to the bed with the weight of his body she could sense if not see the kunai ready to slit her throat, but for some reason however, for a second time tonight he was hesitating in the death strike. She watched his eyes as they scrutinised her body realising that she was no longer the little girl that he had left behind. Her body was filled with fear that he was going to kill her but her heart was clenching with the hurt brought by the pain of love.

It had been so long since she had seen sasuke up close; his hair was slightly longer but still the colour of darkness, begging you to run your fingers through it. His face, still the same perhaps, with just a slight hardness to his features displaying the hardships he had endured while being away. But the most impressive change however would have to be the dramatic way he had grown and filled out. His body once short was now a least a head taller than sakura, and from the weight and feel of him pushed against her she could feel the hardness of his muscles, a result of long hours of training. The only thing that hadn't changed were his eyes, they still looked at her with annoyance and pity, and now hate! She could see that he still thought she was weak and useless, just a burden to a team. Saddened that after all this time she still hadn't changed sakura looked away, waiting for death.

He watched the emotions play across her face, fear, love, hate, sadness, but what was that last one, just before she turned away, was it disappointment? No more than a fleeting few seconds had passed since he had moved and trapped her to the bed but it was now time to make a decision, grabbing the hilt of the knife tighter he pushed it against her neck breaking the skin, a small drop of blood ran down the pale skin on her neck as he saw her wince out of the corner of his eye.

Sakura shrank away as she felt the colt steel of the kunai pierced her skin, but she must be brave, she would at least die honourably. She watched as he raised the knife above his head, closing her eyes she waited for the pain, and wasn't disappointed as a sharp pain ricochet through her head. Finally, she thought as she let the darkness consume her, relaxing she let the life slowly drift from her body.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Sasuke stood over the sleeping figure lying across his bed, it had been almost 48 hours since he had left the leaf village and in that time sakura had only woken briefly once before passing out and she was yet to regain consciousness; he must have hit her harder than he had at first thought. Focusing his attention to the soft muscles on her slim neck, he could just make out a slight flickering of a pulse indicating that she was still alive. Moving his gaze over her chest he could see the small rise and fall of her breasts showing that she was still breathing. But she was, lying very still and it was starting to concern him.

Moving away he took a seat by the window, looking out he could just see the sun settling over the rim of the trees. 'This was some fine predicament that he had got himself into' he thought to himself. When he had raised that kunai he had had every intention of plunging that knife into her heart, but instead he had found himself stopping at the last second and cracking her across the cheek, rendering her unconscious instead of dead. His body had just moved of its own accord, and before he knew what he was doing he had gathered her in his arms and fled into the night a fast is he could. As the sun had risen in the sky the following morning he had looked down into the face of his unconscious prisoner and realised that he would never be able to kill her. This realisation didn't make him feel any better however, it just made his frustration worse, and ultimately when it came down to it, he knew he was still too weak. He was going to have to find another way to vent his anger, and he had had more than enough time to think about a suitable punishment. If there was one thing that he had learnt from Orochimaru it was that there were things that could be done to a person that were far worse than death.

Looking up he could sense that there was someone on the other side of the closed door. Walking over he opened it to find Karin standing there, 'spying no doubt' he thought.

"What do you want Karin?" he asked sharply, indicating that he was in no mood to deal with her at the moment.

Ignoring his tone of voice she peeked over his shoulder and spotted sakura lying on the bed "what is that!" she spat pointing a finger at the sleeping figure on the bed.

"That, is none of your business" he said, his voice deadly as he closed that door behind him. "Why are you still here anyway I thought I gave you three orders for a mission last night!"

"yes well Juugo and Suigetsu said they didn't want me around annoying them so they left without me, and so I thought I'd come and find you and see if you wanted any company?" she asked coyly

"No I don't want any company, in fact I don't want to see you at all, I gave you and order and you disobeyed me." He said his voice rising in anger

"Yes well I already explained that, and it looks to me like you have all the company in the world. Who is that stupid bitch in there anyway, I didn't get a good look at her, but she did look familiar?" she asked spitefully

"Who she is does not concern you Karin, now I want you to leave!"

"Are you replacing me?" she asked jealousy lacing her voice "because I won't allow it, you are mine sasuke!"

She made to move towards the door and confront this new rival but sasuke was too fast for her, grabbing her by the throat he lifted her off the ground and slam her against the far wall cracking her head in the process.

"I'm warning you Karin" he said his voice dangerously bordering on murderous "if you come anywhere near this room again I will not hesitate to snap your pretty little neck, do I make myself clear?" emphasizing his point his applied just enough pressure for her to need to struggle for breathe.

"Ok ok I get it" she choked out

"Make sure you don't forget" he said releasing her "now get out of my sight before I change my mind"

Watching her walked down the corridor he waited till he was sure she was gone before he walked back into the room, sasuke had a plan and the last thing he needed was for Karin to mess it up. Closing the door behind him he approached the bed and noticed something very interesting.

"How long have you been awake" he asked watching the sleeping figure on his bed

Slowly sakura opened her eyes and looked at her captor "how did you know? She asked suspiciously

"One of the benefits of sharingan is that I can see all jutzu, what was it some form of sleeping jutzu?" he asked

"No, it is a sedation jutzu that we use on patients when we need them to be still." She replied

"I see that make sense, I'm guessing that you haven't been using it for very long as I didn't notice it a moment ago when I was in here, so I come back to my previous question, how long have you been awake?"

"Not long, maybe just before you left the room. What gave me away?" she asked

"Rest assured there was nothing wrong with your jutzu, it's just that I am able to detect any type of jutzu no matter what it is."

Sakura watched as he walked over to the window, what was going on here? She had woken up merely moments ago to find herself in this strange unknown room with nothing so much as a scratch on her. She could only just hear raised voices outside of the room, listening she could only recognise one, which apparently belonged to sasuke. Concluding that she must have been taken somewhere she had lain back down and activated her jutzu. She still couldn't believe that she was actually alive, she had seen that look in his eyes, and he had wanted to kill her with his whole heart and soul. What had happened, why had he brought her here? What was he planning to do with her?

"Sasuke I...why am I here?" she asked timidly

Sasuke continued to stare out the window how did he answer that? "Your here because I brought you here" he replied bluntly

"But why, I thought...?"

"You thought what!" he spoke stiffly turning towards her "what, that I was going to kill you, yes well that still might happen yet, but I decided that for the moment, death is too good for you. You are going to stay here and be my prisoner for a while."

"What!" she said shocked, for a few brief seconds she had thought that maybe he had spared her due to some old feelings that he might have had for her, but it seemed that was not the case.

"No sakura, do not mistake this brief reprieve for weakness, the fact the we used to be team mates means nothing to me now" he said as if reading her mind "and you have nobody but yourself to blame for that"

Sakura looked away, yes it was her fault that he no longer though of her that way, but perhaps she would be able to work this in her favour, after all it sounded as if sasuke was planning on keeping her here for a little while at least, and maybe she could use this time to fulfil the promise that she made to itachi. It wasn't much but it was better than nothing.

"Yes, I see, so what are you planning to do to me?" she asked

"Well..." he laughed 'that's for me to know and you to find out, but I assure you that it will be soon rather than later."

Sakura watched the amusement on his face; it hurt her to see him like this, itachi had been right, sasuke was lost and in the darkness, the sasuke that she had know had been replaced by this cruel, revenge filled man, was there even a way to save him, to bring him back?

Suddenly he was right in front of her, looking down he hooked his finger under her chin and raised her face to meet his. "Sasuke..." she whispered, but was cut off as his lips descended upon her own. The kiss was fierce and demanding, it was if he was branding her as his own. Crushing her lips he took from her everything that she was willing to give, she wanted to resist but in the end it was futile. How could she resist something that she had spent her entire life longing after. It was over almost as soon as it had begun.

Stepping away from her he left her hot and wanting more "you are mine now sakura, Mine to do with as I please."

It was if a she had been suddenly slapped in the face, he had played her, deliberately proving his point. She watched as he walked to the door closing it behind him. 'sasuke' she thought 'dont you understand, I've always been yours'


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Sasuke walked down the hall towards his room, his little talk with sakura earlier on had given him an excellent idea. He had been pleased to find that she still responded to him, she had been unable to help herself no matter how hard she would have like to resist. Smiling he thought about all the things that he was going to do to her, sakura would never know what hit her. And when he was finished he would make sure that she was left feeling exactly the same as he had when he had found her with itachi.

Opening the door to his room he stepped inside expecting to see her sitting on the bed. When he couldn't find her anywhere in the room he began to panic, surely she couldn't have escaped? This room was underground, there was no way that she could have used that strength of hers to punch through the walls, and besides aside from the fact that there was no damage to the room he had only been just down the hall he would have heard any attempts to escape.

Slamming the door shut behind him he stalked over to the bed, the blankets were still warm so she couldn't have gotten too far, looking around he realised that the door to his bathroom was closed. Walking over, he wrenched open the door "what are you doing..." he trailed off at what he found

Standing over the sink with one of his robes wrapped around her was an almost naked and very shocked sakura.

"Get out!" she screamed at him "don't you know how to knock?"

"I don't have to knock sakura, you are my prisoner" he said as he couldn't help but admire her slight figure wrapped in the oversized robe "what are you doing in here anyway? It's very unusual for prisoners to just feel free to take a shower whenever they feel like it."

"well I've been stuck here in this room from what I can tell, is the better part of three days, I have dirt and grime all over me and although the wound to my head is healed I had blood sticking to my scalp. If you didn't want me to use your facilities then you should have put me in a cell not a bedroom." She spat at him

Sasuke watched as she stood there fuming at him, leaning against the door frame he wondered if it was too soon to put his plan into action. "and what were you planning on doing once you had finished cleaning yourself were you going to try and escape in my robe?" he asked grinning at her

Sakura looked down at the material wrapped around her, at the time she hadn't thought much about it, but of course this would belong to sasuke, this was his room after all. "I-I don't know" she stammered "I hadn't really thought that far ahead," she lied after she was at least presentable her next step had been to sit and wait for sasuke to return and try and tell him about itachi's warning. But now he had caught her off guard, and to top it off she hardly had anything on!

Pushing off the door frame sasuke began moving towards her slowly, she really did look quite delicious standing there with nothing other than his robe on. Stopping in front of her, merely inches away he gazed down at her, noticing the way the material clung to every curve on her body outlining her pert breasts, he could see her body reacting towards him, her nipples hardening through the thin fabric as his eyes travelled over her. This was going to be easier than he thought.

Reaching out to touch her he stopped as his hand was slapped away "don't touch me sasuke!" she snapped

Looking up surprised he found that she was serious, her eyes were as angry as he'd ever seen them, confused he glanced back down at her body, he could see that she still wanted him, but her eyes where telling a different story. She wanted him to touch her but that intelligent brain of hers was stopping her from giving in to him.

"Just because I am your prisoner does not mean that I will just let you do want ever you want with me." She said anger in her voice

"Why not?" he snapped fury rising within him "you let itachi do whatever he wanted with you didn't you?"

"Itachi was a hell of a lot nicer to me than you are being you jerk!" she yelled raising her hand to slap him across the face

Grabbing her hand mid air he wrapped his steal fingers around her wrist, and pulled her against his hard body. "Itachi was nothing but a traitor and a murderer," he said anger poring throughout his body "just because you let him fuck you does not give you the right to stand there and sing his praises!" he yelled as he threw her to the ground

Raising herself up on her hands sakura looked up at sasuke tears in her eyes how did she respond to that, in one sentence he had managed to make her feel so cheap and worthless, "What happened between me and itachi is none of your business you have no claim over me, I am free to do whatever I like. What does it matter to you who I choose to give myself to, you made it pretty clear when you left that you felt nothing for me, it is unfair for you to expect me to wait for you." She whispered

Sasuke looked at her sitting in a heap on the ground trying not to let the tears rolldown her face. His heart clenched to know that he was responsible for this, she was right it was unfair for him to be jealous like this, but somehow he had always thought that after everything was over sukura would be there waiting for him. "Why did you have to choose itachi" he said "you could have had anyone else and I would have excepted it"

"You still don't get it do you?" she said getting to her feet "I wanted you! And no one else! Then you left and broke my heart. For three years I've tried unsuccessfully to forget my feelings for you, I mean how can I want someone that doesn't want me back, it's so pathetic." She replied "itachi made me feel loved and wanted, unlike you who went out of your way to ignore me! you treated me like shit and stupidly i let you! " she said Anger once more tearing through her at what this man had put her through.

Infuriated Sasuke listened to what she was saying; she was upset that he had ignored her huh; he thought, as his body responded instantaneously. Grabbing her wrist once more, he pushed her up against the wall, the force causing the robe to become loose and expose one of her breasts. Trapping her he lowered his mouth and took the small hardened nipple in between his lips, gently licking and sucking, teasing her with need. her angry struggles only forcing her body to rub against his. He could hear her moans of pleasure as he felt her hands run through his hair, her legs instinctively wrapping themselves around his waist. He knew she wanted to resist but was unable to.

Pushing her harder against the wall he felt his body harden as it pressed against her, untying the robe he let it fall open exposing her full body for his pleasure. Letting his free hand run down her side he used it to run over her stomach, he felt her smooth muscles clench as his fingertips brushed over them. Moving lower he finally reached the spot of her desire. Running his fingers softly around the outside of her entrance he rubbed his thumb over her small nub and felt her body press against him in anticipation as a small sigh of pleasure escaped her lips. Sinking his fingers in he finally gave her a small taste of what she wanted. She was so wet and ready for him that if he wanted to he could quite easily take her there and then.

But he wanted her to beg him to take her, he wanted her to think of nothing else but him, to be out of her mind crazy with need, he was going to erase every feeling she'd ever had towards his scum brother, and then he was going to make her feel the same pain he had.

Pumping his fingers in and out of her tight walls he could feel her starting to contract with desire, she was groaning and blind with passion as he continued to run his thumb around and over her clitoris. He could have done anything to her at this moment and she would have let him. Looking at her arched body as he held it beneath him He had to admit that she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen and his body's reaction was surprising him. If he didn't stop now then he wasn't going to be able to.

Pulling his fingers out he stopped just before her climax. Disappointment, anger and shock was written all over her face as she registered what had happened. Struggling she tried to get away from him to run, but he kept her pinned underneath him, "I am going to make you forget that itachi ever existed," he whispered, before turning and leaving her there desperate with the desire to finish. This was going to be more fun than he thought.

**hey everyone thanks to everyone that added me to their favourites list and reviewed the fic, sorry that it has taken me awhile to post the new chapter, ive been watching alot of bleach at the moment and have found it a bit hard to right about sasuke when all i can think about is renji lol. anyway i hope all enjoy review and let me know what you think!!!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Sakura slid down the wall, the cold tiles scrapping her back as she fell dejectedly to the ground; unconsciously she pulled the robe around herself covering up. She had been helpless to stop him, after years and years of dreaming about him, longing for him to touch her and hold her, her body had crumbled as soon as he pinned her against the wall, she had willingly let him use her!

She sat there waiting for the tears to come, for her self-loathing and pity to consume her. When it didn't she finally realised that she'd had enough, wasn't she better than this, stronger than this? She was _letting_ him do this to her! Allowing him to use his mind games and guilt tricks, not anymore!

Standing up she found her clothes bunched in a pile by the door, looking them over they weren't quite as bad as she had first though. Pulling them on she felt a lot better having had a shower, and her mind was now clear with resolve. Walking thru the door she entered the bedroom, Looking around she analysed the situation. Her first problem was that she had no idea where she was, and nobody would know where to start looking for her, she knew she was underground as she could sense the weight of earth above her, but that was about it. She could make a run for it but she knew that there was at least one other person here besides sasuke, she would be caught instantly, her only option was to force sasuke to let her go and this lead to her second problem. She needed to find a way to deal with him and deliver on her promise to itachi.

As much as she loved sasuke and wanted him to do those things to her she didn't want it like this, he was angry with her and sought revenge, that was not what she wanted and she would not settle for it. She had to believe that she had the will power to resist him, she did have she pride after all.

Checking her chakra supply she was glad to find that it was almost full, although she had been trapped here for almost three days she'd spent most of it asleep, so she was hardly drained at all. Pacing the room she started to formulate a plan of action. Sasuke seemed to be visiting her at regular intervals trying to wear her down, not allowing her time enough to think of anything other than what he was doing to her, so it meant that she didn't have much time to prepare.

When she finally thought she was ready she sat on the edge of the bed and waited, she didn't even allow herself to think about what would happen if this didn't work, sitting there she began to build the barriers around her mind, she would be able to resist him.

Two hours later sakura finally hear the distinct footsteps of her former teammate walking down the hall approaching his room, it was now or never she thought lying down on the bed.

Sasuke entered the room and found sakura in exactly the same condition as he'd left her, although he was a bit disappointed to see her out of his robe and with her own clothes back on. Studying her he could see that she had spent most of the past few hours crying and sobbing like he had thought she would, he knew sakura better than anybody, she was going to be so easy to manipulate.

Sitting the tray of food down on the table he walk towards her, shrinking slightly away from him she moved closer to the wall, he could see the anger and mortification in her eyes, so her mind was still defying him, well after tonight he was going to make sure that none of her resisted him.

Stopping slightly away from the bed he looked down at her, "come here sakura" he purred

"No!" she defied him "I won't be used by you anymore sasuke"

"That is to bad sakura because I know that you desire me, stop resisting." He said pouncing on her, pinning her to the bed "I know that you want me just as much as I want you" he said running his fingers over her lips.

"I c-cant" she mumbled giving into him, reaching up she freed her hands to run them through his hair, he knew that it wouldn't take long

Sakura laid there her anger welling inside of her, his hands and the presence of his body were driving her insane, as she ran her hands through his hair a part of her wanted to continue and let him do the things he was promising but she forced herself to resist, she would be strong! Slowly she began to draw the chakra to her fingertips, it was now time to act!

What the...! He couldn't move his arms and legs, using her opportunity she quickly used her strength to flip him and pin him beneath her he was unable to stop her.

Straddling him sakura knelt over him a smile on her face, everything had gone just the way she had planned it. But she still needed to move fast she only had three minutes as a minimum before the paralysis wore off.

"Right now you are going to listen to _me,_ sasuke uchiha" she said smugly

"How did you...?"

"How did I paralyse you?" she interrupted him "it was simple really, you were so arrogant and confident that you let your guard down, you underestimated me. I'm sorry to tell you this but I haven't spent the last three years just crying and waiting for you to return. I used a chakra scalpel to turn off one of your main nerve ending in your neck, see?" she said holding up her hand; the chakra was clearly visible forming a small edged blade.

Sitting up straight she rested on his stomach "I have a few things that you need to here!" she told him "first of all no matter what your feelings toward itachi, you have no right to act all jealous and crazy, you have no claim over me, you threw that away when you knocked me out and left me lying on that park bench three years ago." she spat angrily "I understand that you are upset that itachi is dead, but it's not my fault, you have bigger things to focus on than petty revenge, someone is coming for you sasuke and you need to be prepared."

She could see the anger in his eyes at the casual mention of his brother, "and I suppose itachi told you this?" he asked

"well sort of...he asked me to something else but I can see that it is a lost cause now so I am giving you a warning instead." She said looking thoughtful it wasn't the promise that she had made but it would have to do, sorry itachi.

She needed to hurry this up she only had just over a minute left, before he would be able to move again " now that that is over, you are going to tell me how to get out of here" she said pointing the scalpel at his throat

"I don't think so" he smile at her

Before she knew what had happened her hands were enclosed in steel fingers. "Now it your turn to listen to me sakura" he grinned at her

"How long have you been able to move?" she asked

"Hmm for a little while now," he said looking at her slyly "you see I learnt a few tricks of my own off Kabuto, I just played along to hear what you had to say," he was secretly glad that she was putting up a good fight and he liked that she was taking control.

Aside from holding her wrists sakura noticed that he didn't make any further movements to restrain her in fact he seemed to be enjoying this role reversal immensely struggling she tried in vain to free her hands

"Now now if you keep doing that all you are going to do is bruise your wrists" he informed her as he let her wrists go.

Un balanced she had no choice but to steady herself by placing her hands on his chest, looking at him she wondered why he would allow her to be so free, but when she looked into his eyes she could see the reason He had activated his sharingan. She knew that he would see whatever attack she made miles before she could even move, his speed would out match her strength every time.

"So what do you plan on doing now?" she asked unable to bring herself to move her hands from his chest. She could feel the muscles lying under the fabric begging her hands to reach inside and stroke them, his heart was racing underneath her palm she could tell that he wanted something from her but she didn't know what. Closing her eyes she could imagine running her fingers all over his body, creating a desire within him, she wanted to feel him harden beneath her. Stopping her trail of thought she realised that she needed to get away before this went further.

Putting his hand behind his head he lay there watching her, moving to get off him she was suddenly stopped by his free hand resting on her hip, "I didn't say that you could leave" he grinned at her

Sakura looked at the man beneath her he was different somehow, up until now he had shown her nothing but anger and resentment, but right now all she could see was amusement. At the moment he reminded her so much of the old sasuke.

"Sakura" he said "you really are very beautiful you know that, especially when you are angry at me, I like it" he confessed smiling

Moving his hand he brushed it along her arm from her elbow down towards her fingers, lifting it of his chest he turned her hand over in his palm caressing her fingers, bringing her hand towards his mouth he seemed lost in his own thoughts as he kissed the soft skin along his wrist.

Sighing unconsciously sakura felt his warm breath tingle her skin, his lips grazing softly. This was unfair she was only just able to resist him when he was being mean to her, how was she going to go when he was gentle and kind.

"No sasuke" she said wrenching her wrist away from him, she scrambled to the other side of the room.

"I won't play this game forever sakura" he said his deep voice frustrated "if you want to get out of here you need to give me what I want, you need to decide if you are ready to forget about itachi and give yourself wholly to me. Only then will I let you go home."

Sakura listened to what he was saying she was torn, her pride wanted to get out of here and back to the leaf village but could she give sasuke what he wanted knowing that he was just going to use her?

**hope you all enjoy!!!!!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Sakura sat on the bed; once again she was by herself. After giving her his ultimatum sasuke had left her to figure out what to do. She knew what she wanted to do, she wanted tell him to get fucked! But that was almost twelve hours ago. What was going on? What was he up to.

Thinking like this isn't helping me she thought standing up, I'm letting my anger get the better of me, there has to be a solution, a way out of this!

Walking to the door for the hundredth time she turned the knob knowing full well that it was locked. She shook the door handle in frustration she wanted to rip the damn thing off its hinges. Taking a step back she tried to calm herself, if only she knew what was on the other side of this door? Then maybe she could formulate some form of escape plan. She stared at the door willing it to give her some idea, just a hint, anything! Suddenly sakura noticed that there was some sort of presence on the other side, there was somebody out there, no! There was more than one. Listening she tried to figure out what was going on, who was out there? It felt like sasuke but not sasuke, it was so weird.

Looking down she could see the door handle moving "it's locked" came the muffled voice from the other side "just punch a damn whole through it for crying out loud, we don't have any time"

Stepping back sakura realised that they were going to smash through the door, she could feel the chakra building on the other side, and it was so familiar.

Smash!!! The door splintered into a thousand pieces

"I think you over done it just a bit kisame" came the deep voice that could only belong to one person, but it wasn't possible he was dead!

Looking through the dust of the smashed door sakura could only just see the faint outline of her rescuers coughing she wiped her eyes to try and get a better look. As everything began to settle down she could finally focus on the two men standing at the door, as she looked to the one on the left she could just make out the outline of a very large and jagged sword. She knew exactly who this man was, but she had never expected to see him again. Not daring to look at the other man she forced herself to a deep breath, she had to be dreaming it was the only explanation.

"Look at me sakura" came that familiar and painful voice

She couldn't, she refused to, this was so cruel, how could this be happening. Finally she had no choice but to face the man standing no more than three feet in front of her holding her breath she could feel her heart pounding if she didn't know better she could have sworn that it was visible through her chest. Starting from the bottom up she could see the familiar black cloak with dark red clouds hiding the body that she knew so well. Avoiding his face she focused on the long silky black hair that hung to his shoulders, this was impossible it had to be somebody else she had seen him die with her own eyes.

His eyes! They could not be replicated, this imposter would not be able to copy them, she thought finally looking at his face. "It can't be..."she whispered staring straight into the fiercest pair of eyes she had ever seen. This man had the sharingan!

"Itachi..." she managed to get out before the darkness consumed her.

"You had us come all this way for this" kisame said pointing to the passed out girl on the floor, "really itachi this does surprise me"

"Enough kisame, we need to get out of here, they will be waking up soon, as it is he is fighting me with everything he has." He said as he scooped sakura into his strong arms

"Fine but how do you suggest we get out of here?" kisame asked looking back towards the way they came "that way is pretty much destroyed"

"I suggest we go up" itachi indicted to the ceiling

"All right step back then" kisame ordered

Itachi did as his comrade said and went to stand against the far wall, "I'm so sorry sakura" he whispered softly as he looked down at her cradled against his chest. Pulling his cloak around her to shield her from the blast, he increased the pressure of the genjutzu against his brother; he should be too weak to follow them for a while after this.

"Ready?" kisame asked

"Ok" he nodded

Releasing his chakra kisame let go of it in one giant swing with his sword.

Crash!!!

Moving as fast as they could through the explosion, itachi shielded sakura from most of the debris. Reaching the surface itachi finally released his brother and the girl that was with him. "Let's move kisame I don't know how long it will take for them to recover, and I would like to be long gone from here before they do, now is not the time for sasuke to meet me in battle."

"Whatever you say itachi, I still don't understand any of this, who is this girl to you anyway? All I know is that she almost got you killed!" kisame asked looking at his friend

Ignoring him itachi took to the trees, he heard kisame sigh when he realised that he wasn't going to get an answer. Shifting sakura slightly he couldn't help but enjoy the feel of holding her again, sasuke was such an idiot sometimes, for almost four days he had held sakura captive and he had done nothing but torture her. He had thought his brother would be stronger than that. He hadn't thought that he would blame sakura for his death; he had thought that he would blame that woman that had been with him.

Itachi looked sadly down at sakura; he had put her in that position, he had hoped that she would be able to get through to his brother, to give him some comfort but instead all he had done was hurt her.

When sakura woke up he was going to have some serious explaining to do. That was if she didn't kill him first!

**hey everyone hope you enjoyed, thanks to everyone that added me to there favourites and reviewed the fic this fic, i really appreiciate it thanx**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Sasuke wake up!"

Gradually opening his eyes sasuke could faintly make out the blurry figure of Karin as his eyes adjusted, her outline became clearer; he could see the worry across her face. Sitting up he winced as he felt every muscle in his body complain. Why was he in so much pain? Searching his memory he tried to recall the events that must have put him in this state. The last thing he remembered was leaving sakura... sakura!

"How long have I been out!" he screamed as his hand shot out grabbing Karin by the throat

"S...s...sasuke please I can't breathe" she managed to choke out

"Why didn't you wake me up sooner" he said loosening his grip only enough for her to breathe but still cause her pain.

"I've been trying to for about an hour now, you were out cold" she answered him relieved at the lessoning of pressure.

Everything was becoming clearer now itachi had been here! He had somehow managed to catch him in his genjutzu and once again sasuke had been helpless to stop him! Enraged his pressure increased on Karin's throat, he still wasn't strong enough! The light annoying tap on his arm brought his attention back to Karin, realising that he was strangling her he loosened his grip and threw her to the ground. Gingerly standing up he left the sounds of her gasping for air and went to the room her knew would be empty, He had come for her! Standing at the entrance to his room sasuke took in the destruction, they had busted through the ceiling. Overwhelmed by rage he smashed the remainder of his door into a thousand splinters. Only one thought consumed him he had to get her back!

* * *

Sakura was having the nicest dream, she dreamt that itachi had come and rescued her, that he was still alive! Resisting the urge to open her eyes she revelled in the heat shining down upon her, the sun was warm today. Rolling over slightly she realised that for the first time in days she was laying in a comfortable bed, nuzzling her head into the pillow she breathed in the familiar smell from her dream, if only she didn't have to wake up and face the terror of reality.

"Don't tell me you're finally awake?" came the familiar lazy drawl

Startled she sat up right; dizzy from moving so fast she tried to get her bearings. The sun was shining through two familiar beautiful glass doors. Looking around she couldn't believe were she was, searching in the direction that the voice had come from sakura jumped from the bed when she spotted the man she had thought was dead. Leaning against the door that lead to the bathroom itachi gave her one of his winning smiles that made her heart leap. Running to him she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his neck.

"I can't believe your here, alive" she said as tears streamed down her face

"Please don't cry sakura" he said as his arms came around her pulling her closer to him

'Don't cry' how stupid she thought, for months now she had carried the guilt of this man's death with her every waking moment and now she could feel his strong powerful body pressed against hers confirming that he was indeed alive.

"I'm sorry for lying to you sakura, but I thought it was what was best for you" said itachi, as he gently kissed the top of her head

"What you thought was best for me?" she said pulling away from him as his words sunk in "you mean you lead me to believe you were dead on purpose!"

Nodding he let her step back slightly away from him

"Do you have any idea what I have been through these past couple of months? The pain, the guilt! How much I've miss you." She added quietly

"Sakura I'm..."

"What! Your sorry" she interrupted him "sorry that you lied to me. God what a sucker I've been, when I gave myself to you I was never foolish enough to think that I could change you, but I had thought that I meant enough to you that you would never intentionally hurt me, how wrong I was. But what should I have expected, after all you are the man that wiped out his whole clan on a whim, leaving his only brother to suffer and become twisted, oh how stupid I've been."

"On a whim!" said itachi "you think I destroyed my whole family on a whim! Everything I have ever done was for sasuke; I have devoted my whole life to making him strong enough to face the terrors that will one day face him. I even gave up you; you were the one thing that I had taken for myself and I let you go"

"What are you talking about?" she asked her anger slowly fading away

"Do you think I didn't know what was in your heart sakura, I knew that you had feelings for both me and my brother, and that if we continued the way we were going you would one day have to choose, I didn't want you to have to make that choice so I made it for you. I had hoped that you would have offered my brother comfort and love in his world of hate"

"You had no right to make that decision for me itachi" she said looking up into his eyes "were you afraid that I would chose you?"

"Sakura you're not listening to what I'm saying" he said taking a step towards her "I want you to be with sasuke."

"Well what if that's not what I want anymore" she said closing the small distance between them

"Sakura don't... please when you are this close to me it makes it very hard to resist you" said itachi his voice catching slightly

"Enough thinking itachi, for now I am just glad that you are alive"

Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulled his face down to meet her embrace, as their lips met sakura let her hand run through the soft silky texture of his hair, tugging at the cord that gently held his hair back she marvelled as it fell around her face curtaining them in their own world. Pressing herself up against his hard body she could feel his reaction to her. As the pressure of his lips increased she opened her mouth slightly to allow him entry. She could feel his hands running down the length of her back heating her skin as they went. When he reached the roundness of her bottom he gently lifted her of her feet, wrapping her legs around him she held on as he carried her to the bed.

Reaching for his cloak she drew it aside to reveal the muscular body of a man used to fighting, however she couldn't help but be disappointed that it wasn't sasuke that was holding her so gently in his arms. What was wrong with her She thought, after everything sasuke had put her through in the past couple of days she still wanted him, she wanted him to hold her just as loving and as caring as itachi was right now. But was she wishing for too much? As much as she loved and cared for itachi deep down she knew, and had probably always known that sasuke was the only person she should be with. Sensing her sadness and confusion itachi slowly pulled away.

"I'm sorry itachi I just..."

"It's ok sakura, this is what I wanted" he said sadly

"But..."

"Sakura I accepted my fate long ago when I decided to kill all the people dear to me, sasuke will truly be lucky to have you."

Sitting up sakura rearranged her cloths "I don't think that he sees it that way"

"I agree and for that I am sorry I should never have put you in such a position" said itachi once more fully in control of his body

"Can I ask you something? How is it that you are even alive? Even if you didn't get hit with that kunai your injuries were so sever you had no more than a couple of days left at the most. I know, I treated your injuries myself, remember." She asked as she moved to sit beside him on the bed

"As we entered the clearing that day I knew that kisame was not far away, I could sense his chakra. The day before you arrived we had gotten word that there was an antidote to the jinjurichi power hidden in the village where he had originally resided, realising that our time was short kisame went in search of it. I was supposed to wait patiently until he came back but of course we didn't plan on you showing up." He explained, standing up he walked to the window

"That doesn't explain how you survived that kunai, I felt you die in my arms itachi, how?" she asked trying not to let her anger get the better of her.

Itachi watched her sadly "I'm sorry that you had to go through that sakura."

Sakura watched the man that she knew had so many faces and knew that he was telling the truth "it's ok itachi"

"From the moment I could sense sasuke's presence that day I knew that he wasn't ready to fight me, I also had the added problem of him seeing us together" itachi continued "it helped immensely that when he saw you he was so surprised that he let his guard down, that was when I activated my genjutzu, from that moment on everything that happened was an illusion. But that manoeuvre almost cost me my life it took everything I had to keep up the genjutzu till you all left, when kisame found me I was laying on the ground all my chakra spent and my life slipping away, even with the antidote it still took me almost 5 weeks before I was back to normal strength."

Sakura sat listening to his story, taking it all in "I can see why you did what you did itachi, but I still don't understand how you knew where I was and what was happening to me, how did save me?"

"Well that part is a little more complicated" he said looking away shyly

"What do you mean?' she asked suspicious

Looking away from her itachi reached up to nervously scratch the back of his neck "after I had recovered most of my strength I couldn't help myself I had to check on you and know that you were all right. I told myself that it was harmless, that you wouldn't even know I was there."

"You idiot!" she yelled standing up "you mean that you came to the leaf village, are you nuts? What if someone had seen you or realised that you were there?"

"Uh you sound like kisame; we had this same argument before I left" he said as if the thought of getting caught was truly ridiculous "anyway, consequently I was there when sasuke decided to make his grand kidnapping, I followed him to his hid out and observed what was going on, needless to say it wasn't what I had expected"

"No, sasuke wasn't what I had expected either he has changed a lot" said sakura sadly

"Your right" itachi agreed "his hatred of me has blinded him to the truth and his feelings for you, when I realised that he was taking out his frustrations on you that was when I intervened, I couldn't stand by and watch him torture you like that."

"So what do we do now?" she asked standing up and walking to look out the window

"Sasuke knows that I am alive now and he will be coming for me, and this time I am going to let him kill me for real!"

**hi everyone sorry it has taken me so long to update i hope you like, im a little torn as to wether this is going in the right direction, i just love itachi and sakura together, let me know what you think and would like to happen ideas welcome. enjoy!!!!**


	9. Chapter 9

**WARNING!!!!! **

**SPOILER ALERT: ALTHOUGH THIS STORY IS NOT A SPOILER ITS DOES USE SOME THINGS FROM THE SHOW THAT MAYBE CONSIDERED AS TO MUCH INFORMATION SO JUST A WARNING TO THOSE OF YOU THAT ONLY WATCH THE DUBBED VERSION OF THIS SHOW, IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHO MADARA IS THEN YOU MAY NOT WANT TO CONTINUE READING, IF YOU DO SO IT IS AT YOUR OWN CHOICE.**

**Chapter nine**

"You're going to what! I don't understand why are you so hell bent on sasuke killing you? Couldn't you have found some other way to make him stronger itachi?" asked sakura still reeling from what he had said

"There was no other way that was the choice I was given if I wanted to save my brother" he said sadly looking away

"What do you mean choice, who made you choose?" she asked guarded

"It doesn't matter sakura, what is important is that sasuke is ready, you as well" said itachi as he moved to open the doors outside

"Ready for what? Hey itachi where are you going? What do I need to be ready for" she asked as she followed him outside

"Have you ever had the sharingan used against you sakura?" itachi asked his voice taking the tone of teacher

"I've been under its genjutzu before" she replied

"Out of the two would you say that you are better at taijutsu or genjutzu?" he asked stepping back from her

"I'm not sure" she said thinking about it "I suppose I'm good at detecting genjutzu and breaking it but I would have to say that I use taijutsu more"

"I see that is very fortunate."

"I don't follow itachi where are you going with this?" she asked

"I am going to show you what it feels like to be caught by the Mangekyou Sharingan, this jutzu is unlike any other visual jutzu that you will have ever encountered, ready?" he asked looking her directly in the eyes

Nodding sakura watched as itachi activated the sharingan, watching closely she caught a slight glimpse as the three small hooked dots joined together and straightened out, just as they were about to reach the edge of his eyes she blacked out.

Breathing slowly sakura realised that she still had some form of consciousness and that where she had originally thought she'd passed out she had in fact just been engulfed by darkness. Looking around she could see nothing in any direction, hesitant to move she pushed down on the balls of her feet; surprisingly it seemed to be quite solid even thought there was nothing there. Raising her hands to her face she brushed the smooth skin of her cheek, she certainly felt real, was this some sort of dream?

"Not a dream sakura" came itachi's voice from behind her. Turning around quickly she lost her footing as she tripped over something putting her hands out she suddenly realised that there was a ground beneath her feet and it was rushing towards her. Closing her eyes she felt the familiar strong arms rap around her stopping her fall.

"Even in my mind you are clumsy" laughed itachi, setting her on her feet he stepped away

"What is this place itachi" sakura asked in wonder "it's beautiful" and it was, everywhere you looked there was something extraordinary to look at, from the mountain perks in the distance to the small bubbling stream running metres from her feet.

"This is the power of the Mangekyou sharingan" he said taking her hand and walking towards a small waterfall "the Mangekyou sharingan allows the user to capture his opponents mind and use it as he sees fit, I am only limited by my imagination."

"I don't understand how this could be so dangerous" she asked still looking around in wonder

"sakura I created this place so as not to frighten you, I wanted you to get used to the feeling but you are not listening to what I am saying, torture is only limited by my imagination" he said

Suddenly the mountains and trees disappeared and were replace by a dark desolate plate with crucifixes sticking out everywhere "this is the place that I held Kakashi prisoner" he said standing beside her

Looking up at the nearest pillar sakura could see that her sensei was indeed strapped to the cross, no there was a Kakashi on every crucifix "this is what I did to him" said itachi as a weapon appeared next to Kakashi then plunging into his body and slicing him up, sukura could hear nothing but the ear splitting voice of her sensei's agonising pain, then suddenly the wound re healed and the sword sunk into his body again and again each time re healing looking around sakura could see that it wasn't just happening to the Kakashi in front of her but to every single one. Sickened by what she was seeing sakura sunk to the ground closing her eyes and covering her face in her hands.

'Sakura are you alright' she could barely hear itachi voice over the screams of her sensei "its ok sakura you can open your eyes now I'm sorry if that was distressing" said itachi

Opening her eyes slowly sakura realised that they were back in the beautiful garden standing next to the waterfall "how could you do that itachi, you did that to Kakashi?" she asked her voice quivering with fear

"I regret what happened with Kakashi sakura but it was unavoidable, now do you understand what I am trying to show you, it could just have easily been you on those crosses." Said itachi gently as he knelt beside her on the ground "there is one other thing that you should know about the Mangekyou sharingan and that is that it bends time for all the time that we have been here no more than 5 seconds have passed in the real world"

"How long did you keep Kakashi sensei like that?" she asked looking him directly in the eyes

Looking away itachi sighed sadly "he was here for only a minute of real time, but he endured three days of torture"

Releasing her mind itachi brought them back to the real world, looking around sakura could see that they were standing outside of itachi's room once more. Raising her hand to shield herself from the sun she was surprised by how heavy and sore she felt "come back inside and rest a moment sakura" said itachi

Turning to walk inside she suddenly found that her legs were about to give way. Itachi moved so fast that sakura didn't realise that she was in his arms till they were almost inside. She had always known that this man was capable of evil things but to be shown them in reality was very hard to handle, pushing away from him the last place she wanted to be right now was in itachi's arms.

As she tried to wriggle down itachi sat down on the bed his grip tightening around her "sakura I want you to listen to me very carefully" he said looking her softly in the eye "I would never do that to you do you understand, I give you my word"

Sakura wanted to believe him but the images of what she had just witnessed where still fresh in her mind

"Sakura...uh" itachi let go of her quickly as he raised his hand to his eyes rubbing them profoundly "uh"

"Itachi are you all right?" asked sakura her fears washed away as she was filled with concern "what's wrong?"

"I will be fine" he said as the rubbing motion began to slow "every time I use the Mangekyou sharingan I do so at great risk to my eyes, but with a little rest I should be fine"

Removing his hands from his eyes sakura was glad to see that they were back to the normal dark black that she was so used to. Still sitting on his lap she suddenly became increasingly aware of how close they were, her heart may want to be with sasuke but her body still seemed to be very attracted to him.

"How do you feel now?" he asked as he brought his hand up to brush down the side of her face. His fingertips leaving small tingling sensations as they trailed down to her neck

"I feel much better" she replied as she felt her body begin to react to his caresses

"Good, I'm glad I'm sorry that I did that to you but I want you to know what it felt like" he said placing her on the bed and cautiously moving away

Disappointed at the disappearance of contact sakura tried to focus on what he was saying "I don't really understand why you thought I needed to feel that thought. I mean do you really think that sasuke would use that technique on me?" she asked

"Honestly no, but sasuke wasn't the person I had in mind when I wanted to show you this"

"But there is no one other than you, sasuke and Kakashi sensei that have the ability to use sharingan, is there?" she asked cautiously

Sighing itachi stood up, was that fear that sakura could sense "Unfortunately there is, his name is Madara Uchiha and he as a lot stronger than I could ever had imagined." Said itachi sounding exhausted

"He wants sasuke doesn't he" sakura guessed

"He wants to take sasuke's power, as a reprieve I did a deal with him to buy sasuke some time to get stronger, and so in exchange for 10 years I killed my entire clan, my mother my father even the woman that I wanted to marry. Now those ten years are almost up and I still don't know if he will be ready, his hate of me just isn't strong enough."

"But itachi ..." said sakura processing what he had just told her "what if sasuke doesn't win what if he isn't strong enough"

"That is where you come in sakura; you are my back up plan. There is only one thing stronger than hate and that is love, it will be up to you to save him sakura to bring him back to the light" said itachi as he stood there watching her

"And what if I refuse?" she asked already knowing that she wouldn't

"Then sasuke will be lost and Konoha will be engulfed in a war the likes that had never been seen" he said harshly

Sakura looked down at her hands folded in her lap 'oh naruto I wish you were here to help me' she thought as she sat there thinking about all that itachi had told sakura almost didn't hear the knock at the door

"Itachi we've got a problem" said kisame as he burst through the door not waiting for permission

Instantly alert itachi moved towards kisame "what is it?" he asked

"He's here and he wants to speak with you" said kisame as his eyes travelled to were sakura sat on the bed

"Where is he?" asked itachi as he moved to gather his weapons and cloak

"Outside, in the clearing" he answered "what do you want me to do with the girl?"

Itachi looked to sakura "keep her here kisame, you have my permission to use whatever force is necessary" said itachi as walked towards the door

"Itachi you can't just leave me here!" yelled sakura

But it was already too late itachi was gone and standing in her way was one of the seven legendary swordsman of the hidden mist village, sakura watched as his mouth turned upwards into a grin revealing his sharp pointed teeth.

"Sorry little girl but it looks like we are stuck here for awhile" he said still grinning at her

"What are you doing are you just going to let your friend walk out there and be killed" she screamed at him

If sasuke was here then she wanted to be out there to try and prevent it from coming to bloodshed. Studying kisame she realised that his huge sword was missing, with the absence of his swords ability to eat chakra she shouldn't have any trouble with him, her only problem was that she would need to get close enough to land a punch.

Focusing her chakra throughout her body sakura to a defensive stance "let me through" she demanded

"Sorry but I have strict orders" he said his smile gone, realising that he was without his swords kisame also took a fighting stance

Moving as fast as she could sakura pounced on kisame but he countered her attack equally as fast blocking her movements with ease. She had been wrong to think that this man would be useless without his sword; he was a member of the akatsuki after all. Once more on the attack sakura clenched his fist drawing all her chakra into the palm of her hand if she connected he would be out for three days. Swinging kisame could sense the strength of her attack, dodging he moved swiftly out of her reach, however he didn't see the shelf protruding from the wall behind him.

Sakura inspected the blow to his head, well it wasn't the three days she was hoping for but it would be enough. Moving quickly she ran to the doors that lead outside, as she ran down around the side of the house sakura tried to think of all the things that she would say to sasuke, should she tell him the truth? Should she run to him and prove that she wanted to be with him and not itachi? So many thoughts were running through her head that as she ran around the last corner into the clearing she almost ran straight past itachi.

"Well who do we have here itachi?" came a slow drawling voice from across the clearing

Turning around slightly sakura had to look past itachi to see who had spoken to her. The first thing she noticed where this man eyes he had the sharingan but not one that sakura had ever seen before. The second things she noticed was that this man most defiantly was not sasuke.

"She's nobody, a hostage that we took from our last raid of the jinjurichi village" itachi answered smoothly

"It would seem that she is trying to escape" said the stranger smugly

"It does not matter to me, kisame is supposed to be in charge of her" said itachi his voice only showing the slightest note of irritation

Sakura stood still no more than a few feet away from itachi, what should she do? She had come out here expecting to find itachi dead and sasuke gloating over his corpse but instead I would seem that she was face to face with the very man itachi had just warned her about. Watching itachi's body she could tell he was preparing for battle, his ridged body poised for action.

"Well whatever amuses you" he said waving his hand as if to dismiss sakura "just remember what I told you itachi one month and he better be ready"

"I understand" said itachi visibly relieved that this conversation was coming to an end

"Sorry but I can't have the girl escaping and ruining my secret" he said slyly

Before either of them could react the strange man across the clearing had thrown the weapon and with a soft thud sakura felt it land in her chest. Looking up from the kunai that lay sticking out of her chest she could no longer see the enemy, he had disappeared.

"sakura!" yell itachi as he moved to her side. Lowering her to the ground itachi began inspecting her wound, Madara was long gone. Cursing kisame itachi pondered whether to remove the kunai "sakura what do I do? Do I take it out?" he asked frantic

"Itachi..." was all she could manage before she drifted into blackness

Itachi knelt over her body tears running down his face, how long had it been since he had cared enough to cry for someone, for the first time in his life he didn't know what to do.

"What have you done?" came a devastated voice not far away

Looking up itachi knelt over sakura with her blood covering his hands, and came face to face with his brother.

**HI EVERYBODY THANKYOU TO ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE REVIEWED AND READ SO FAR, I HOPE THAT THIS CHAPTER DIDNT DISSAPPOINT. HAPPY READING!!!!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter ten**

"Sukura...please wake up" sobbed itachi as he cradled the small pink haired woman to his chest

"You killed her!" screamed sasuke moving involuntarily towards his brother, his rage at what he was seeing was consuming him. He couldn't see that itachi was equally as devastated as he was, that he was crying and distraught, all sasuke could see was that sakura was lying there covered in blood with a kunai plunged into her chest.

At the sound of his brothers voice itachi seem to finally gain some control and gather his thoughts, lowing sakura to the ground he began inspecting her vital signs. Putting his fingers gently to her throat he waited to feel the soft thrum thrum of her blood pulsing, his whole body tensed as he waited for what seemed a life time before he finally felt a slight flicker ,it was only faint but sakura was still holding on, sighing with relief itachi could have almost wept for joy. Standing up slowly he turned to move toward the house to call for kisame when he was suddenly thrown to the ground by a tremendous force.

Sasuke had watched as his brother had checked to see if sakura was showing any signs of life, his smile at finding her dead had been too much, itachi had killed her and now he was smiling about it. Before he knew what he was doing he had charged at his brother hitting him with full force, he grabbed him around the stomach and threw him to the ground. Kneeling over his brother he placed his hand around his neck holding him and with his free hand he smashed his fist into itachi's face, the force of his punch breaking itachi's nose. With the speed of a viper he readied his second strike clenching his fist and bringing it down demolishing itachi's jaw. He couldn't stop himself he wanted to just keep pounding and pounding his brother.

Itachi had been so shocked by his brother's speed that he hadn't even had time to react let alone defend himself, by the time he raised his defences sasuke had already managed to hit him twice, his bleeding nose and throbbing jaw the consequence. Looking up he could see his brother getting ready to thump him again, moving his head quickly to the side at the last minute he narrowly avoided being hit for a third time.

"Sasuke now is not the time for this we... need to help sakura" grunted itachi as he tried to struggle out from under his brother

But sasuke wasn't listening his rage had consumed him to such an extent that all he could hear was his blood pounding in his ears.

Copping another smash to the face itachi winced as his brothers fist collided with his face, if he didn't do something soon it would be too late for sakura. At the thought of her name itachi was suddenly filled with frustration, he didn't have time for this. Wrenching his arm free he grabbed sasuke's fist stopping his blow inches above his face.

"I don't have time to be dealing with you right now sasuke" he calmly "now get off me!"

Using all his strength he smashed his free hand into sasuke's chest, his force was so incredible that it not only moved sasuke off of him but threw him metres across the lawn. Sasuke felt his body flying through the air, landing with a loud thud he heard one of his ribs crack.

Moving quickly, itachi got to his feet, using his fingers his pinched his nose to stop the stream of blood flowing out of it and looked towards the house.

"Kisame!" he yelled looking for his friend

"I'm over here" he heard his friend's surly voice

Looking around itachi found kisame standing next to sakura "it's not good itachi" he said looking down at the pink haired girl

"I know!" itachi spat out angrily "is there anything you can do?"

"Why would I want to save her, she is nothing to me and she is already half dead, it seems that this girl is more trouble than she is worth itachi" said kisame as he lent against his sword

"If you don't help her kisame I will not hesitate in slitting your throat" said itachi dangerously

"Alright alright no need to get so dramatic itachi geez"

Putting his sword to one side and kneeling down beside the girl, kisame rested his fingers over her chest, slowly sending out his chakra he sealed all the ripped flesh and torn veins surrounding the kunai. Itachi looked over to his brother, who was now recovered from his fall and standing up, "stay where you are sasuke" he indicated slowly

Sasuke looked towards were his brother was staring and noticed for the first time that kisame was now with them, looking closely he could see that he was bent over sakura and concentrating hard "what is he doing to her?" he asked anxiously as he made to move towards kisame and stop him

Itachi, not knowing what to say just turned towards sakura and silently prayed for the first time in a long time that she was going to be ok. Sasuke could now see a faint green glow enclosed around sakura's wound; confused he frowned at what was going on, were they actually healing her?

Continuing to focus all his energy and chakra on the wound kisame motioned towards itachi to come and pull out the kunai. Lowering himself onto his knees itachi gently took hold of the hilt of the blade waiting for kisame's signal "ok itachi pull it out slowly" gripping the knife tighter itachi began lifting it out of sakura's chest, with a final soft squelchy popping sound itachi through the kunai to the ground. He watched as fresh blood began to pool into the wound "kisame...?" he questioned worried

"It's ok, I've got it" answered his friend and before itachi's eyes he watched as the gaping hole in sakura's chest began to close. When the last strip of skin had mended itself kisame slowly let the chakra fall from his palms exhausted he looked at itachi. "I've done all I can" he stated

Sighing with relief itachi looked down at sakura her breathing seemed to be coming more regularly now but she was still very pale and very cold.

"You need to move her inside itachi" kisame informed him "I have healed the wound but the kunai was deep and well placed, she lost a lot of blood before I got to her, and well...I'm not a medical ninja my expertise is in fighting not healing, I'm afraid that what I have done her may be to crude, the only thing we can do now is wait."

Nodding to his friend he moved to pick sakura up "wait, let me. Sakura is only here because of me" said sasuke as he stepped along side of his brother. Looking at sasuke itachi took a step back and allowed his brother to take sakura into his arms.

Lowering himself down sasuke gently pushed his hands beneath sakura's body and lifted her into his arms. Standing up he cradled her soft body against his chest and made his way towards the house. As he followed the exhausted kisame into the house sasuke never took his eyes of his brother as they walked side by side.

"Where do you want to put her itachi?" asked kisame as they entered the house

"We'll put her in my room, that way when she finally wakes up she will be some place familiar" answer itachi

Sasuke wanted to argue, to tell his brother that there was no way he was going to let sakura lie in that bed ever again, but what right did he have to demand those things? After the way he had treated her he didn't even have the right to even be here. It was all his fault that sakura was almost dead. Walking into the brightly light room that must belong to his brother sasuke slowly lowered sakura to the bed. Resting her head to the pillow he watched with dismay as it limply lolled to one side, this wasn't looking good.

Itachi stood in the door way watching his brother "sasuke she needs to rest" he said quietly

At the sound of itachi's voice sasuke's head snapped up breaking his thoughts, as sasuke looked into the eyes of the man that had haunted his dreams for most of his life he was shocked to find that itachi looked almost as devastated by the day's events as he did, but why surly he had done this?

"Why did you do this itachi? Why try and kill sakura only to then turn around and save her it doesn't make any sense?" he asked trying to keep his voice under control

"Ah" sighed itachi looking tired "still the same as always little brother, always asking questions"

"Answer me itachi!" said sasuke his voice raised in angry

"This isn't the time or the place" said itachi indicating the unconscious sakura

Sasuke's anger rose he suddenly wanted to continue what he had started outside; this was so like his brother always fobbing him off never answering his questions. Taking a step towards him he couldn't help but wince as he felt the sting of his broken rib, he hadn't come out of their earlier battle completely unscathed but it helped to see the dried blood smeared across itachi's face, his brother certainly looked the worse of the two. But he knew that itachi was right now wasn't the time or the place to pick up where they left off, as much as it surprised him sasuke had a more pressing emotion than revenge to deal with, his concern for sakura far outweighed any other that he might have. Everything else, all his questions, would have to wait.

"When sakura wakes up and is better I am going to finish what I started" he warned itachi

"I wouldn't have it any other way" said itachi as he smiled grimly and left his brother to watch over sakura. 'If this doesn't make you realise how much you love her sasuke then nothing will' him mutter under his breath as he walked down the hall.

**Hello to everybody thankyou so much to everyone that is reading this story i hope you are all still enjoying it and that you liked this chapter, please feel free to review, all comments and thoughts welcome.  
****U****ntill the next chappie xoxoxox**


	11. Chapter 11

**HELLO EVERYONE SORRY THAT THERE HAS BEEN AWHILE BETWEEN UPDATES FOR THIS STORY, I HAVE NO EXCUSE JUST BEEN LASY, ANYWAY I HOPE YOU ENJOY!**

**Chapter eleven**

"We need to do something" whispered a deep voice from far away

"I know that, but what?" came the hushed response

"She needs to be taken back to the leaf village, only one person can help her now" said the first voice "she has been unconscious for over a week now, and although her wounds have healed she still hasn't woken up, we are going to need to move her"

"That will be suicide for both of you" said a third voice much louder than the others

"I am aware of that, but it is our only option, do you agree?"

"Yes… I agree," said the first voice with a hint of agitation

"Don't worry sasuke as soon as we know she is going to be ok, I will uphold my promise and you will get your fight" said the voice she now recognised as itachi's

"Let's just get her to the leaf" said sasuke irritated

Sakura tried to focus on the far away voices but it was hard, very hard. Her mind was full of a deep fog that was trying to drag her under, she didn't know if it was a dream or reality, surely it must be the former sasuke wouldn't be here concerned about her. Perhaps she should stop fighting the fog and go back to sleep, after all dreaming about sasuke wasn't such a bad idea, but all her experience as a medical ninja told her she had to fight it, she needed to wake up, sasuke or no sasuke she needed to wake up now or she would never be able to.

She could still here the voices, (only two now the third was gone), and they were getting louder, more heated.

"Are you suggesting that all I care about is fighting you!" she heard the voice that sounded like sasuke say.

"That is what it sounds like to me!" said the second voice

Itachi was calmer than sasuke but sakura knew it wouldn't last long; she needed to wake up and stop them, if she didn't then they were going to kill each other she knew they would! Fighting the fog, this thought drove her onwards, she had to stop them otherwise she would lose them both.

"We have unfinished business that is all" said sasuke cold as ice "or did you forget that you murdered everyone in our clan!"

Itachi looked at his brother, the past week had taken its toll on both of them and they were now both, on the knife's edge. After a week of worrying, waiting and tip toeing around each other it had been a great show of discipline on both their parts to still be alive. But it was getting too much; sakura hadn't improved at all since her wounds had healed and neither of them knew what to do, like kisame had said going to the leaf village was suicide, but itachi knew that if it came down to it he would risk it do what needed to be done to save sakura.  
"Not now sasuke! Focus on saving sakura!" he said impatiently

"You think that you love her more than I do!" said sasuke, yelling now

"Love! You talk to me about love! I saw what your, so called love did to her sasuke, you're a complete idiot! You finally had the chance to be with her, to be happy but all you did was make her life miserable!" said itachi his anger causing his voice to waver slightly.

"You think I don't know all this already!" yelled sasuke "you think that I don't regret it! Why do you think I came after her?"

"I don't know sasuke; did you come because you feared for her life? Or was it because It was me that had taken her?" asked itachi calmly once more in control

Sasuke didn't know what to say, it had been the very question he had been asking himself ever since he had got here. But there was one thing he knew for sure, when he had seen sakura lying there all covered in blood, when he had thought she was dead, half of him had wanted to blame itachi to hate him for it, but there was only one person he could blame if sakura died and that was himself, his brother was right, and if sakura ever woke up he wouldn't blame her if she never wanted to see him again.

The voices had stopped now and it was very quiet but sakura was now almost certain that sasuke's voice was not a dream, that it was real, and with that knowledge her urgency to wake up grew even stronger, if sasuke was there with itachi it was bound to be a disaster.

"Itachi…" said sasuke quietly, but just at that moment a slow movement caught both their eyes, sakura was waking up.

Rushing to the bed they both looked down at the woman lying on the bed, sasuke grabbed her hand and held his breath, please let her be waking up, please let her be alright, he begged silently.

Watching closely they saw the slight flutter of her eyes as she tried to pry them open, quickly shutting her lids she waited for them to adjust to the light that was streaming down upon her, and slowly she was able to focus on her surroundings, and as the fog cleared finally from her mind the first thing she saw was those familiar dark eyes that could only belongs to one person.

"Sasuke!" she said sitting up quickly and throwing her arms around him "you're here; I thought your voice was just a dream, I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it!"

Shifting slightly itachi let out a sigh of relief, catching the movement out of the corner of her eyes sakura turned and notice itachi standing there his face devoid of any emotions but sakura could see the worry lines at the corners of his eyes. "Itachi…"she whispered letting go of sasuke, she wanted to go to itachi but the realisation of her situation was suddenly made very clear, and the images of her last moments before now came rushing into her mind. What had happened? Where was Madara? Why was sasuke here? The last thing she could remember was the pain of the kunai slicing into her chest how was she still alive?

"Itachi!" she repeated more urgently, momentarily forgetting sasuke.

"It's ok sakura, I will explain everything later when you are fully recovered." He said knowing she wanted to know what had happened to Madara.

"But…are you going to?" she asked slowly looking at sasuke

It stung sasuke to realise that the first question she was asking him was if he was going to attack itachi, did she really care that much for his brother? "It's alright sakura, we have agreed to a kind of truce for the moment"

His answer didn't please her but it was the best she could hope for at the moment

"I'm going to let kisame know our plans have changed" said itachi "I'm glad you are awake sakura" he said softly before walking out of the room.

Sakura wanted him to smile at her, to give her one of his cheeky grins she loved so much, to reassure her that everything would be ok, but it seemed that itachi was gone for good now that sasuke was here. She watched as the door closed behind him and realised that she was once more alone with sasuke. Sitting up in the bed she made a show of adjusting the pillows behind her back, as the awkward silence drew out between them.

Sasuke sat in the chair beside the bed not knowing what to say, where to start. How many times had he been sitting where sakura was now, in hospital, ignoring her as she prattled on about how happy she was that he was ok. How selfish he had been, all those time she had cared for him and he had ignored her completely, never once thanking her. But now there roles were reversed, where should he start?

"Sakura I…"he mumbled slowly "I'm glad you are awake" was the best he could manage

Sakura looked at him sceptically "what are you doing here?" she asked quietly

Sasuke knew what she was asking, she wanted to know if he was here for itachi or for her "I don't know sakura…I honestly don't know, I didn't think about it I just followed after itachi as soon as I was free of his genjutzu"

"I see" she responded, then turned to look out the window

Sasuke didn't know what to do he wasn't used to feeling so pathetic, he was so relieved that sakura was ok that his emotions were all over the place, he wanted to tell her that he loved her and that everything would work out but he couldn't. How could he tell her that everything would be fine when he still yearned to rip itachi's throat out, and what right did he have to tell her he loved her after the way he had treated her, she would never believe him. So instead he just sat there, not knowing what to say.

Sakura sat there in the uncomfortable silence looking outside at the forest surrounding the house, the sun was setting and the trees were mostly in shadow but she could still see some small animals moving around preparing for night. "How long have I been asleep?" she asked turning back around to look at sasuke

"Just over a week" he answered meeting her gaze

Shocked sakura sat up straighter in bed "that long! But what's been happening? Who healed me?"

"Kisame did, it would seem that he has some small skills in medical ninjutzu"

Sakura examined herself and found that the wound in her chest was completely healed, she couldn't have done a better job if she done it herself "yes, skills indeed" she agree, making a mental note to ask itachi more about it later.

"Sakura I really am glad that you are alive, when I saw you lying there covered in all that blood I… well I'm just happy your ok" he said sincerely

Sakura gave him a small smile "thank you."

Standing up sasuke moved towards the bed, sitting down on the edge he took sakura's hand in his own "I'm sorry for the things I did to you sakura." He said quietly "I know it's not enough, that they are just words but I am sorry"

Sakura looked at the man sitting beside her and her heart quickly skipped a beat, she had never seen this side of sasuke, he looked genuinely remorseful. She watched as he reached out and smoothed a strand of hair away from her face, the touch of his fingers sent tingles down her spine.

"I want to make things right between us sakura" he said softly as he looked into her deep emerald eyes.

Reaching out he slowly pulled her towards him, mesmerised sakura moved into him she knew what was coming and she wanted it just as much as sasuke. The moment his lips touched her own, her body seemed to ripple into life, she felt the heat of desire spread throughout her body like wildfire causing all her senses to come alive. This was unlike anything sakura had ever experienced from sasuke, whenever he had kissed her before she had always felt the underlining desire for revenge; he had wanted to hurt her. But this time it was different, this time he was kissing her as if he might never get to kiss her again. Letting everything slip from her mind sakura gave him everything she had.

And sasuke was savouring every last second of it, this was how it should have been, how he should have treaded her. Sakura might never let him kiss her again and if that was the case then he was going to make damn sure that he made the most of this opportunity.

Finally he pulled away from her; both slightly out of breath they just looked at each other, smiling shyly sakura didn't know what to say.

"sakura I lo…" but at that moment there was a loud knock on the door interrupting what he had been about to say.

Cursing beneath his breath sasuke looked towards the door, where his brother was standing and behind him was Karin!


End file.
